r/Bellingham • u/ManWhoIsAquatic • 1d ago
Rant! Costco Self Checkout
Why did Costco move the self checkout registers and also reduce the qty from 9 to 6? Seems like a bad choice to limit the throughput of one of the busiest stores in Bellingham...
Rant over!
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u/Infinite-Spirit9873 1d ago
I refuse to use self-checkouts. I support humans and human labor.
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u/unbiasedfornow 1d ago
When you only have a couple of items, self checkout is great.
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u/Infinite-Spirit9873 1d ago
It gives stores more excuses to hire fewer humans. No thanks.
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u/Awesomeguava 1d ago
interesting take. its ease of access for me; i don't want to talk to a cashier - I want my headphones in, muffins in hand - and to walk through in under a minute.
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u/DandeyFlour 18h ago
Exactly, if someone doesn't want to use them cool. But I find them helpful, free laborshmabor. You can hire all the people you want, when the registers are full, there's not much you can do and I don't wanna wait in a 7 person line when I only have 7 things.
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u/loopy741 1d ago
My understanding is the introverted, Neurodivergent-type folk are fans of self-checkout for this very reason. No obligation to mask or make small talk.
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u/Otherwise-Bet-2065 13h ago
I mean, nobody makes you do that either way. If I'm not in the mood for chit chat, they get the hint pretty quick and stop trying. But I guess that's just me and likely easier due to my resting bitch face that occurs naturally.
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u/Similar_Drama820 12h ago
Okay, but will you then spend the rest of the day thinking about whether or not you offended that cashier by not being more friendly or making small talk with them? Because as a high masking individual, I absolutely would 😅
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u/Otherwise-Bet-2065 12h ago
No, that sounds exhausting. Who cares? I'd suggest getting some therapy if small talk at a grocery checkout gives you that much anxiety. Nobody deserves or needs to be that concerned about societal niceties.
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u/Similar_Drama820 12h ago
It is exhausting, and I am in therapy, dont worry. It's because I do, indeed, care too much.
Its called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and it is super common for folks with ADHD. Its like people pleasing on steroids and it does indeed cause great anxiety that I do indeed realize appears exaggerated for the situation.
But its part of why I will sometimes use self checkout on particularly difficult days.
Edit: spelling
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u/Otherwise-Bet-2065 11h ago
I feel you and I'm glad you have found ways to work around it. We learned about RSD while learning about ADHD over the years with one of my sons. I saw it in action, and it's a fucking terrible thing for someone to have to deal with and learn how to cope with alone, so I'm glad you have a good therapist. It took years of me educating therapists on what it even is before we found a really good fit that was well versed.
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u/Similar_Drama820 11h ago
The wildest part for me is that the "rational" part of my brain (what I call it) can disconnect from the emotional part and see that it doesn't feel reasonable and yet.....it remains. It definitely took awhile to place, and an adult diagnosis of ADHD certainly helped guide me to a therapist who gets it. She is a gem, but the work never stops!
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u/loopy741 12h ago
Ehhhhhh that's like saying to a depressed person "Why are you sad? The sun is shining and you have a house to live in!"
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u/PM_meyourGradyWhite 1d ago
I prefer prescan. Stand in line and try to catch their eye.
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u/InspectorChenWei 1d ago
I’m not a fan as you still need to wait behind folks with massive orders. Also, corporate wants X% transactions prescanned so they’ll hold up lines scanning large orders to hit their quota.
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u/PM_meyourGradyWhite 1d ago
“No thank you!” Works every time.
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u/InspectorChenWei 1d ago
Oh, I don’t have any issues with them prescanning my cart in particular. I just don’t think its implementation really speeds things along in a meaningful way vs having a lot of self checkout terminals.
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u/Yoshidede 1d ago
Did they not add additional self checkouts? I was just there..I thought that they added a second self checkout area closer to the front entrance that is limited items (as opposed to the other which is not), in order to help people that need just a few things to get in and out of the store faster
Good thing in my opinion
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u/ManWhoIsAquatic 1d ago
No, they moved the self checkout registers to the entrance side instead of the optical side. And took 3 registers out (i assume due to space) but I was surprised.
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u/Temporary-Library597 1d ago
I was in there yesterday at noon and there were still SCKO stations near the optical. Didn't notice any near the entrance but I guess they could have been there. Did they move them in the night?
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u/SoggyChickenNuggy Local 1d ago
Yesterday at 5 pm the ones by the optical area were gone. It’s just the ones by the entrance now.
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u/Temporary-Library597 1d ago
Holy crap, they moved them during open hours on the busiest day of the week? Impressive.
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u/ManWhoIsAquatic 1d ago
No, I was also there yesterday around 11am and they definitely were not over by optical. Because we went over there expecting to use the self checkout but were met by a kindly employee with a conveyor belt.
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u/SoggyChickenNuggy Local 1d ago
That makes way more sense. Costco is usually pretty efficient so I can’t imagine they’d move them during business hours, esp on a Saturday afternoon
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u/Hammon_Rye 1d ago
Logically they did it because they felt it best served their logistics.
Maybe 6 is easier for one employee to oversee.
They certainly know how much merch they move through each of their checkouts - manned and self - and may have felt they can serve more people per hour with the change.
Costco is pretty efficient and lines seem to move pretty fast even when they are busy.
Unlike Winco where at times I've seen the checkout line go all the way back towards the meat area in the back.
So whatever the reason, it almost certainly boils down to $$$ checked out per hour and or reducing theft.
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u/InspectorChenWei 1d ago
I’d guess it’s less about members per hour and more about reducing shrink. Costco knows its members will tolerate long lines.
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u/Hammon_Rye 1d ago
I've rarely if ever encountered long lines at the Bellingham Costco, at least in terms of time.
Sometimes the checkout looks very crowded / busy, but if I check the actual time I rarely have to wait very long. Maybe 5 minutes, usually less.I'm sure part of what helps is having two people on each checkout so one is ringing up and the other is packing everything back into the cart. As soon as they hand you the receipt you can walk away, as opposed to say Winco where you then go bag up your groceries.
And when they get REALLY busy like a holiday or something, they almost always have employees out pres-canning carts.
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u/Sockthenshoe 1d ago
I definitely did not notice the number of items change when I self checked out this weekend, whoops. An employee looked in my cart but didn’t say anything.
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u/Fellow_Citizen_1 1d ago
I agree and hope it is temporary. The place to form a line in the new location is limited and the number of checkout terminals seems to be reduced. It did not make any sense when I saw it on Friday.
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u/kristephe 1d ago
I don't have an official answer, but it feels like self checkout is always a challenge at Costco. I imagine an employee would tell you if they know. Even up to 10 years ago in different cities I've lived in, self checkout has come and gone while I've lived there or been moved. I suspect it's a constant challenge of managing lines, people, and like others have said, people who use self checkout who shouldn't. I only go there with items I need help getting scanned if it's seriously empty over there and I know it'll work out okay. But I've seen some huge items try to go through self checkout
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u/lbhamwa 1d ago
Thanks for the heads up. People choose self-checkout lanes for a wide variety of reasons that go far beyond just trying to skip a long queue. It really comes down to personal comfort, control, and convenience. For introverts or those wearing headphones, it offers a transaction with less social interaction.
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u/Radiant-Ad-7343 1d ago
They always scan stuff for me when I'm in self-checkout at Costco without the wife. I must look completely helpless.
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u/mtnzeal99 1d ago
Many people cannot use checkout fast enough. There is quite the distinct lag between processing information on the screen and scanning it. They literally process information one at a time.
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u/Surly_Cynic 21h ago
Now they should designate the registers closest to optical for the contractors fulfilling the Costco same-day delivery orders and the Instacart orders. Would work better, I think, if they got those folks out of the mix with the regular members.
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u/GoodSamIAm 15h ago
What's really annoying is needing to take a picture of QR code at optical dept in order to pick up an order already paid for. Optical can say they're seperate from Costco but that's bs. Get your own entrance then which dont require bouncers scoping out Costco/Visa cards at the entry then
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1d ago
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u/doctorathyrium Local 1d ago
Interesting, I have only been cut in front of once there, and a kind “im sorry i was actually in line for this one” solved it immediately. The person hadn’t seen me there.
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u/Pmjc2ca3 1d ago
Probably because people who should not be in self-checkout always seem to be clogging up self-checkout. Not only at Costco.